Many people ask me about the color of Trim-A-Slab. They want to know what the differences are, and what advantages one might have over the others. Here’s what I have learned:
First of all, what is the same between these different Trim-A-Slab colors? All our colors are made from the same base material, and all have the same warranty. Color choice is largely just a matter of personal
taste.
Color after 6 years installed, South Texas. New Trim-A-Slab on top. Note the installed end, damaged by years of impact from string edgers.
Black will always be darker than the concrete, and you can’t tell if it has tire marks or not. We call it the low maintenance’ option, as it always looks about the same, dirty or not. Being darker than the
concrete, it becomes the background color, and the concrete tends to ‘pop’ more as a result.
Black Trim-A-Slab installed
Grey is by far the most popular color we sell. It isn’t pure grey, it has brown tones in it. Some people even call it ‘tan’ or ‘beige’. This color was chosen to be a match to clean, dry concrete. Now, concrete doesn’t stay the same color over time. It gets distinctly darker when wet, and it can look pretty dirty. Grey Trim-A-Slab will get dirty just like the concrete, so it may continue to match the concrete despite
dirt. The following figures show the difference between wet, clean, and dirty concrete.
Dirty
Clean (pressure washed)
Clean and wet
Dirt will show on grey Trim-A-Slab, but it cleans easily with soap and water, or if you pressure wash to clean your driveway, the pressure washer does a great job to clean Trim-A-Slab. The most common discoloration will come from tires, which can leave black marks. The following figures show pretty bad case of tire marks. The figure on the left has a segment of black Trim-A-Slab in it, and the same marks don’t show like the grey does.
Black vs. grey
Tire marks on grey
Grey is designed to match the color of concrete, and the main goal of this color is to make it disappear. The pictures below illustrate how Trim-A-Slab blends in, and makes the concrete look more like a continuous structure.
Grey installed
Bottom line, whichever color of Trim-A-Slab you choose, you will be making your property look much nicer, and make it easier to keep clean. Most importantly, you will be taking a step to maintain your concrete from damage due to loss of the soil beneath, which can save you from the high costs of removing and replacing a cracked concrete slab.
February, 2018
R&D Workshop, makers of Trim-A-slab
